Posted on by Pastor Poet

The Holy Spirit (6)

Jesus ascended forty days after His resurrection.  Ten days later is what we call the Pentecost – fifty days after the resurrection.  It coincides with the Jewish Festival of Weeks that occurs fifty days after the Passover when God delivered His people from bondage through Moses.

It is an important time for Christians and Jews alike. Jerusalem would be bustling with Jews from all over the diaspora.  Despite their different backgrounds these Jews would travel from all over the known world to be in Jerusalem for the Pentecost.

And it’s here we find a group of Christians gathered together in the upper room, on one accord, and in one place… in one place!

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place , Acts 2:1.  For ten days they stayed together in one place, waiting on the promise of the Father, waiting and on one accord.

For ten days they prayed and encouraged one another as they waited on the promise.  For ten days they chose something bigger than themselves. For ten days they stayed and prayed together…

This is instructive for us.  When we want to encounter God’s power and God’s presence we must choose something bigger than ourselves. Faithfully, patiently, waiting together on one accord – they agreed that the promise of the Father was more important than their own plans.

I wonder if we may ever possess such deliberate discipline. I wonder if we might find such fortitude and faithfulness.  Making unity their priority, these faithful few prepared and positioned themselves to encounter the power of God! Can we?

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 

Acts 2:1

I know the culture has changed us, and more recently the pandemic has undermined the priority we’ve placed on just being together, but I cannot abandon the importance of us just showing up – just being together to experience God’s power and presence.   How about you?

Amazing and wonderful things can happen when we choose unity as an expression of our faith! Don’t miss it!

Good morning, I love you all!  

ihs,

just adam

Posted on by Pastor Poet

The Holy Spirit?

When we encounter God’s presence, we should experience bits of both comfort and conviction. The Holy Spirit is both cheerleader and  challenger, a teacher and a trainer.  

In nearly equal parts, the Holy Spirit is both a doting parent and drill sergeant – our Helper and also the One who haunts and hassles us when we need correction! 

We need both.  The problem is that most of us gravitate toward one aspect of the Spirit’s presence while we reject the others!  

We lean in willingly to the comfort of the Holy Spirit, but then we resist anything that challenges or convicts us.  We often crave coddling while we resist coaching. 

Or…we succumb to the opposite expression.  With a conflicting sense of both self-righteousness and self-deprecation – we express conviction so fervently that we end up lacking compassion for ourselves or for others.  

The Holy Spirit is both our Comforter and our Counselor, who chastens, challenges, consoles, and has compassion on us.  And we need all of this!  Too much compassion and we invariably cheapen grace; too much conviction and we are consumed by guilt that renders grace ineffective.  We need both the compassion and conviction that accompanies the Spirit’s presence and nothing less.  

All else is a distortion of the character of God – a liability, that will eventually rob us of the life-giving power, and the liberating presence of God the Holy Spirit – rendering us either too weak or too rigid to embrace and enjoy the promise of the Father!  

We must learn to accept the fullness of God’s presence, the Holy Spirit within us – with all of the conviction and compassion, the comfort and the correction that follows.  This is the holy power that challenges and changes, trains and transforms us!

Come,  Holy Spirit, in the fullness of Your power, fill us, feed us, and fix us, in Jesus’ name! 

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 14:26

Good Morning, I love you all!

ihs, 

just adam